[Joe Wicked]

Yesterday was one hard day. We finally got tired of fighting to keep the 2 trees alive the builder gave us. After going to Home Depot and talking with them, we bought 2 Oak trees to replace the 2 that they gave us. After we got them home, I was able to just walk out there and pull the one out of the ground with no effort. The other took a little bit to get it out, but it was out in 5 min. Digging the hole in the front yard was another matter. Even with the rain we got, this clay sucks to dig by hand. Took about an 1 1/2 - 2 hours to get the hole dug. 20 min later the tree was in. I still have to do the one in the back yard. I went to sleep earlier than normal for a Saturday last night and woke up early. I may just get it done today if I can motivate myself out there this morning as soon as the sun comes up.

The front yard looks so much better with just the 1 tree in the center instead of 2 Oak trees in the small area too. Original plan was to move the 2 they gave us, but when we could not keep them alive, we just bought the 2 new ones. The tree that just came up with no effort was only dug about 8-10 inches down. All the roots were twisted together and not going down at all. The other was about twice as deep and the roots were just starting to take hold, but the tree was diseased and weak. For the most part it looked like the builders landscaper did not feel like digging that day.